From the Outside
by Picture
Summary: There are a lot of people in the world. Some, whether by chance of by choice, came across the Elrics, or Mustang and Co. Short about random peoples' experiances with them. Number four is not funny.
1. That Office Down the Hall

From the Outside

This, I am sorry to say, is my first piece of fanfiction. I wrote it just for fun originally. Then I decided to post it. What do I have to loose. If people start throwing things at me, I'll leave.

Diaclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

#1: That Office Down the Hall (Corporal Mary Englow)

She sighed. They drew straws to see went down there. Cpl. Englow lost. She slowly shuffled down the hall with a small folder of papers under her arm. None of her colleges particularly enjoyed going to visit Col. Mustang. Something bad always happened to the unlucky messenger. Just last week Jack Fuller had returned soaking wet and covered in burns from scolding hot coffee. He had refused to talk about it.

Trying to delay opening the door for as long as possible, Mary stopped for a drink of water at the water fountain. She sighed again. She should just get it over with, go in and out as quickly as possible. Slowly, she turned the handle and swung the door open. Cautiously peeking around it, Cpl. Englow was surprised to see that the room was deserted. The desks marked Sergeant Cain Fuery, Warrant Officer Falman, and Second Lt. Breda were covered in paperwork, but their was no sign of the men who were supposed to be doing it.

Mary considered setting the folder on the floor in lieu of venturing any further into the room, but she did not want to get in trouble for it later. Walking across the outer office, she knocked on Mustang's door. There was no answer. Mary knocked again as she glanced around nervously.

"Hello," she said in a half-whisper, not really expecting and answer. Mary stood their for a moment, unsure what to do. Finally, she decided that it would be best to return later. She was about to open the door to the hallway when it burst open I front of her.

"Well, good morning Corporal," exclaimed a cheery voice. It was Maes Hughes.

"Good morning, Lt. Col." Mary stammered back saluting, quite surprised.

"I was just looking for Roy, he absolutely has to see the new pictures of Elysia!"

"Um, he doesn't seem to be here right now, Sir,"

"Awww, that's too bad," Hughes blazed on, "but at least you were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time!" Hughes pulled out a packet of photographs.

It took all of the Corporal's self-control not to scream. She had been so close to escaping unscathed.

"And this is Elysia sitting in the yard, and this is Elysia sitting in the yard thirty seconds later…."

"_Does this guy ever stop talking?"_ Mary thought to herself, "_There has got to be some way to cheat at drawing straws!"_

When Hughes finally finished with his stack of pictures half an hour later, Corporal Englow had decided that -maybe- a lot worse could have happened to her, remembering Jack from last week.

Maes made his exit as abruptly as he had come. Mary was left standing in the middle of the room, folder still in hand.

Suddenly, she heard a voice, "I think he's gone!" A closet door that Mary had failed to notice swung open and Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Fuery tumbled out.

"That wasn't much better than having to look at the pictures, we still had to listen to him!" Breda complained.

"One of you idiots was stepping on my hand," Falman commented. "And now we all smell like smoke from Jean!"

"At least we don't smell like coffee last week. The coffee fight was fun though?" said Havoc.

Mary wished that she had a pair of gloves like Col. Mustang.

Col. Mustang choose that moment to enter the room, "I trust you fine fellows took care of everything while I was gone." He received four glares.

" You always leave us to fend for ourselves," Havoc accused.

"From what?" asked Roy innocently.

"Col., I went to get those papers for you, but they said that Corporal Englow had brought them down," said First Lt. Hawkeye as she entered the room," Oh, there you are, Corporal, they were starting to worry about you."

"I'll be going back right now," said Mary saluting and handing Riza the folder and left. She realized that she didn't even know what was in it. She sighed.


	2. Aunt Riza

Well, I tried another one. I hope that someone gets a laugh or two out if it... I never about any family members of the military personal so Ikind of made it up.nI hope therearen't any major problems.

#2: Aunt Riza (Angela Hawkeye)

One morning, Angela Hawkeye agreed to visit her Aunt Riza at her office so that they could go out to lunch. That was her first mistake.

Riza was her father's younger sister, her godmother actually. She wasn't that much older than Angela, but she was always there for her. Her father had been a little nervous allowing his daughter to go into a military building, but Riza had assured him that it was perfectly safe. Whether she was correct or not depends on one's point of view.

Angela found herself walking into a peaceful room containing several men quietly completing large piles a paperwork. That was about to change.

Angela walked over to the closest desk, "Excuse me," she said, to a black haired man with glasses," I'm here to see Riza Hawkeye."

"The first lieutenant should be back any moment, you can wait here," he replied," You must be her niece. My name is Sgt. Cain Fuery. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand.

"My name is Angela Hawkeye. It's nice to meet you too."

"That's Havoc, Breda, and Falman," Fuery explained, pointing each out. She received a nod and frenzied sort of yelp and a calm "hello" respectively.

Angela sat in a random chair and waited patiently. The silence of the room was broken only occasionally by the sound of rustling papers. Then Major Louis Armstrong walked in.

"Good day to all you fine gentlemen!" Armstrong announced. Havoc and Breda winced visibly. Fuery mumbled a greeting. Falman ignored him completely.

Then Armstrong noticed Angela, "Good morning, young lady," he quipped, "I suppose you're related to Lt. Hawkeye. The talent of identifying family resemblance has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" Angela could only nod in response. That was her second mistake.

Armstrong took Angela's silence as approval for him to begin ranting about his family and anything else that came to his mind. The others in the room ignored him, as if this was completely normal. Angela began to wonder what kind of a loony bin her aunt worked in.

With a loud bang, the door opened and in walked a fuming blond-haired boy followed by a suit of armor. "Where's that good for nothing -"

"Shh," said Havoc, sounding annoyed," the colonel is on the phone.

"I don't care if he's having tea with the Fuehrer, I need to see him NOW!" the boy raved.

Angels whispered to a nonplused Fuery," Who's the short guy?" That was her third mistake.

Before Cain had a chance to answer, Ed was on top of him, "Who are you calling so short that ants step on him?"

"Sorry," Fuery stammered," I was just telling Miss Hawkeye about you." Ed looked back and forth between the two, thinking over the situation.

"What's Riza, your sister?" Ed asked curtly.

"She's my Aunt."

The suit of Armor spoke up," Stop being so rude, brother. Why don't we just wait patiently for Col. Mustang to see us." Reluctantly Ed allowed hi brother to sit down.

"Sorry," Angela whispered to Fuery, who shrugged.

Ed, becoming bored, began to tap his foot on the floor. Tap. Tap. Tap. Between Armstrong standing around flexing his muscles, Ed tapping, Al's armor creaking as he shifted position, the incomprehensible mutter from behind Mustang's door, the rustle of paperwork from Falman, Breda, and Fuery, and the teeth grinding from Havoc, Angela was getting more and more annoyed.

Suddenly. She could not stand it anymore," Can't you people just be quiet!" Everyone starred at her. All the color drained from Angela's face in the awkward silence.

Mustangs voice shouted from his door," Hawkeye, keep it down!"

Angela felt her face go beat red as the men around her began to laugh uncontrollably. Ed and Breda were rolling on the floor. Al was trying his hardest to be polite. Havoc knocked his paperwork off of his desk and it scattered all over the room. Falman attempted to hide behind a stack of papers.

Hawkeye entered the room to see utter chaos, "Geez, can't I leave you guys alone for one minute, "she grumbled, "Oh, hi Angela. Sorry to keep you waiting. I hope you weren't bored."

Well, there you go. I appreciate all reviews.


	3. The UPS Guy

I decided to post another attempt... I wrote it anyway.

#3: The UPS Guy (Joe)

Joe was a UPS guy. He delivered stuff. One day he was assigned a new route, a major part of which was the Eastern Military Base.

Joe walked confidently into the military building carry a package marked "fragile" and addressed to one Col. Roy Mustang. Passing by security with ease, Joe ambled over to the lobby secretary, who readily pointed him in the right direction and advised him to give the package to Mustang and not deal with any of his officers.

Somewhat puzzled, Joe climbed the stairs to the third floor. Taking a left and then another left, he entered the correct office. He glanced at his watch. He was right on time, too.

"Excuse me," Joe announced, "I have a package for Col. Mustang.

"I'll take it," said a blond-haired man.

"Are you Col. Mustang?"

The man rolled his eyes," Yeah, sure."

"I'd really prefer to give the package to the Col. himself."

"Well," said Havoc," that's the Col. over there." he finished, pointing to a short black haired man working busily in the corner. He snickered almost inaudibly.

Joe walked over to the man's desk," Here you are Col., can you please sign for it."

The man looked up, confused. Then he blushed," Oh, I'm not Col. Mustang. The Col. is on his office," Fuery pointed to a door, "and be careful." This confused Joe.

Joe knocked on the door, only slightly annoyed.

"Come in" came a muffled reply. Joe went in. He was surprised to find a man even less productive looking than those outside (minus the not Col.) The man was leaning back on his chair with a cup of coffee in his hands and his feet on the desk.

"You look like a good impartial judge to me, what do you say?"

"Um…," said Joe.

"Hey Col. Moron, why don't you tell him what for?" asked a short boy sitting on the couch.

"Ah, yes. Fullmetal thinks that he can eat more marshmallows than I can in one minute."

Joe turned to the boy;" You're the Fullmetal Alchemist?" he inquired curiously.

"Who are you calling to short to even draw a simple transmutation circle?"

"Brother, he didn't even use a synonym to the word "short" in that sentence. He was just asking, he's never met you before," said a large suit of armor that had just entered the room. His face was obscured by bags of marshmallows. Joe was becoming a little scared.

"Sorry that you were roped into this, mister," continued the face behind the marshmallows," You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It'll be over soon." Joe just nodded.

Ed and Roy proceeded to count out one hundred marshmallows each, in pile of ten. Joe became just a little more afraid. How much could these guys eat? The suit of armor, whose name he learned was Al, seemed unfazed by the situation.

"Okay, we're ready," said Ed, looking at Joe expectantly.

Suddenly, Joe realized what he was supposed to do. He looked at his watch, " Ready, steady, go!" The race was on. It was hard to keep a watch on the two competitors through the chaos of marshmallows in the air. They were throwing marshmallows at each other and eating at the same time. Joe did not remember that being part of the contest.

"Time, "said Joe. Roy and Ed each ate twenty. Joe had five just for fun. Al pulled out a box of toothpicks and made a marshmallow building to entertain himself.

"So who won?" demanded Ed.

"Umm," said Joe, looking at Al, who shrugged.

"I think it was a tie," Joe finished.

"He cheated," accused Ed.

"Did not"

"Did too! You were using alchemy to get rid of some of your marshmallows!"

"I most certainly did not!" insisted Roy.

"Did I?" Roy asked Joe smugly.

"If I say you won, Col., will you sign for the package?"

AN: I actually had people eat as many marshmallows as they could in a minute. I know some of thelittle thingsmay be off, like the security (or the concept of UPS in this world), but I needed some details (or an idea for a story.)


	4. Graveyard

Okay, so this one isn't funny. Basically, it started out as a good idea and deteriorated to this. I couldn't figure out why I ended up not really liking it, so I decided to go ahead and add it on.

#4: The End (Graveyard)

I was always proud that my father ran the graveyard. Most people never understood that. In my view, it is an important job. One for the living as well as for the dead. When I was young I used to wonder about all the people buried there. Now that I'm a little older, I help out there often.

I have seen many people come and go, but one particular group touched me. I recognized the military officers , they came to visit fallen comrades from time to time. There was the one who would always stop and show me pictures of his family on the way out. He was the first one.

I was used to the funeral processions, and at first his did not attract much notice from me. But then I heard the little girl. How could I not recognize her? And her mother too.

I sat for hours watching the people stand by his grave. The major, the cornel cried. I saw them. It made me feel so hopeless. If even they could not stop themselves, who could. It was finally the blond Lt. who lead the Col. away.

That grave was visited often. I could not help but feel happy for Maes Hughes sometimes. So many graves are unkempt and flowerless always. I often guessed who I would see visit him nearly that day. I would wish for someone to come every day.

I got my wish. It made me believe the saying "be careful what you wish for". Things got pretty bad for everyone. The land was torn with war again. The graveyard was constantly busy. I was always surrounded with weeping friends and family of another fallen person.

Another member of the group fell. The younger one, with the glasses. His family, too, was enough to break one's heart. His mother, his nephews, his older brother, his teenaged sister….

And the blond haired captain lead the brigadier general away as he shead a single tear for another loyal follower. One who had believed in him.

Things got worse before they got better. Even the graveyard was not safe. It was often desecrated, and I found myself crying over the broken gravestone of Second Lt. Cain Fuery.

Something strange happened the next time I saw them. This time the dead are two. But the funeral procession misses many more. The two brothers, one the Fullmetal Alchemist, have seemingly disappeared. The wife and daughter of Brigadier General Hughes were evacuated for a safer place.

The names Sergeant Falman and First Lt. Breda take their places next to their friends. My father never allowed the adjacent plots to be used. Somehow, he just knew….

This time, the dark haired Major General lets two tears fall. This time the blond major leads him away. This time it is a little harder.

The city was going to pieces. Buildings were in ruins. Nothing was sacred. I saw many friends of my own fall prey to the mighty conflict. Sometimes I saw one of _them_ on the streets, fighting for the people. For me. I felt helpless.

It seemed like no time passed at all until the tall muscular man was brought in in a coffin. Few members of his family were even able to make it to his funeral because of all the violence. So I marched with them. Nobody took much notice, but I felt it was right. I felt it my duty to Col. Louis Armstrong.

And the blond Lt. Col. Leads the Lt. General away from the five gravestones. And another tear fell. And I felt the hope waning. Why couldn't the military bring peace? wondered how long we could continue to live like we did. One could hardly venture outside. My father forbid me from leaving the house. I only disobeyed once.

It was the one who always smoked. It was his way of denying reality. I hid behind a tree, finding it hard to refrain from running to comfort a hysterical young women being held back by two others. The man's fiancé. The only time I put myself in danger was for the burial of Lt. Col. Jean Havoc.

Once again, the blond Col. took the General away. He could not hide his tear from her, but she helped him hide it from the world.

And then a miracle happened. Peace. Once again the people were free to go out on the streets without having to fear being shot. Children can play outside.

But there was one last headstone to be engraved: General Riza Hawkeye. Eight graves in a perfect line. And at the end there is one more empty plot: one that will someday contain a stone bearing the name Mustang.

This time, there is no one to console the black-haired man. The Fuehrer turns, slowly, and leaves on his own. And the people are free.

But does the end justify the means?

Yep. Yeah. That's it.


	5. Chapter 5

This is probably the last one. It has some vauge spoilers from the end and continues on a bit from th end. I liked the beginning, but it went downhill from there. I wanted to have a happy ending...

Also, thanks to the reviews. Again, I appreciate it.

#4: #5: At the Rockbell's

Most nights it is dark at the Rockbell's. I mean that both figuratively and literally. I have known Winry and her grandmother for as long as I can remember. And they have been so close to the Elric brothers through all of that time.

When they first went away, the Elrics, Winry was devastated. She was depressed for days. It was all us girls could do to bring her back from it. I visited her every day. In time she took up her automail studies with renewed passion. In time she continued with life, but she did not forget.

Most nights Winry and Pinako do not keep a single light on in their house. It is pitch black. There is nothing to bring it happiness, there is no joy. In the daytime there is always something to do, someone to talk to in order to keep busy. Late at night there is nothing but memories. The darkness manifests itself in the despair of its inhabitants.

I worried a lot about my friend. I feared that she wore a mask often. That she was not truly open to others. Bur really, how could I blame her? How could I understand why those two boys meant so much to her. I remember them as boys too, but I scarcely saw Winry not in their company.

I would anticipate those few nights where there would be a single light in the house. A single indication of hope. Perhaps Winry and Pinako were still at work on their newest automail, or simply talking to each other. Whatever they were doing, there was a reason to stay awake, to remember. A reason to face reality.

The brothers would come an visit from time to time. The Rockbell house would be partially lit for a time. It could not be fully lightened because Ed and Al would have to leave again. I tried to see them while they visited several times, but they only acted politely towards me then. I never stayed long. Winry just had that connection.

The house would seem darker than ever after the Elrics left. Winry would fall into another emotional rut. But she always bounced back. There was always something keeping her going. Even when it wasn't right there with her.

Then, as if things could not get worse, Al came back. Except he could not remember a thing about the past few years. Could one really say that he was better off than in his previous state. He had a body, but no brother and no understanding why. No understanding of what had gone on for those who remained in Reizenbul.

So one more person joined in the waiting, the darkness, at the Rockbell's. They wait for Ed. They wait for Al to remember. They wait as if they have forever.

Some grew annoyed with the Rockbells. I grew more and more worried. But every time I thought that they had given up, there would be a sign that they had not. Not Yet.

And tonight, the Rockbell house glows in the night. The bright light radiates like a star in the valley. And I know they are truly home.

So...


End file.
